When Mormons Call

Rating:
Summary: good info for catholics
Review: After serving a mission for the Christian church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the "strong" Catholic country of Ireland, I realized that Catholics do need this book. Many of the Catholics I met there, be it clergy or lay people, did not really have a clue what their church was about. They were just Catholics out of tradition. I met many kind people there, of course. They all had different ideas. What they felt in their hearts were closer to Mormon Doctrine than what the Catholic Church teaches (which apparently changes as the wind blows) Most of them had not read the Bible, but tried to contend with us. I met only one kind nun. The rest of the nuns insulted us in the streets and slammed doors on our faces (if we happened to tract into an abode of theirs) when we mentioned Jesus Christ. (I did meet a cool Franciscan Monk who attempted to offer us beer) If many of them would read this book, maybe they could put on the appearance of good manners and carry on somewhat of an intelligent conversation with missionaries. I do remember a well-educated lady who was born Catholic and after reading the Book of Mormon said, "I've always believed these things, now I can see them in print." And a man who told us, after we shared a discussion about the gospel of Jesus Christ, that he learned more about the Savior in that one hour with us than in seven years studying in a monastery. Anyway, I don't mean to criticize Catholics, but Catholics shouldn't criticize "Mormons" either. The info that this author who was born Catholic, joined the LDS Church for two years, then went back to being a Catholic sounds suspicious. His conversion obviously wasn't sincere. Maybe he just joined the LDS Church to get fodder for his books.

Rating:
Summary: Off center.
Review: I would have to say that this book encourages confrontation and contention. Neither of these feelings are fruits of the Spirit of God. He seems more interested in convincing his readers that his stance is correct, than portraying a non-slanted account of the true beliefs of the Latter-day Saints. Nevertheless, this book gets a 2 because he spelled all the words correctly.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty Fair Apologetic Outline
Review: Mr. Bennet's book is short and accessable for the average lay reader. It does a good job of outlining the differences between Catholic Christianity (and any orthodox Christian believers) and Mormonism. The book is most definitely polemical and appears to be aimed at converting the Mormon missionaries who show up at your door. I think the author is a bit over-optimistic if he thinks much of an impact will be made on 19 year old Mormon missionaries, the entire point of them going out on missions is so they have an intense Mormon experience at an early age which will influence them the rest of their lives and keep them in the fold. Not much unlike the experience young men who enter the Marine Corps at age 18 or 19 have. Once a Marine always a Marine. Once a Mormon missionary, always a Mormon. If these young missionaries do win converts it is only a bonus. Let us be realistic, only a rather naive and ill-educated 40 year old will be converted by a couple of high school graduates who are essentially biblically illiterate and completely ignorant of the history of Christianity (knowing only the LDS rhetoric which portrays God as an insincere trickster) to a polytheistic religion which teaches that dark skin is a sign of serious sin in a previous existance. The real conversion work is done by older, better educated and more mature members of the LDS. However the author must be granted credit for suggesting that an effort be made to convert the Mormon missionaries. One never knows what effect testimony to the Gospel will have with unbelievers (unbelief in the sense that LDS and other branches of Mormonism have essentially created a new kind of a God with very different characteristics from the God worshiped by Christians and Jews). Where one sows another will reap.
The critics of this book seem to miss the point. Of course Mr. Bennet has beliefs different from their beliefs. But ad hominem attacks do not address the merits of this book. In particular the criticism of Janice Parker is dead wrong. Bennet may be polemical and you may disagree with his theology, but he is 100% accurate with historical and theological data. This work is far from a thorough criticism of Mormonism. Read Bennet's later book, "Inside Mormonism" for a more exhaustive treatment of the differences between Mormonism and Catholic Christianity. Yes Bennet wants to sell books to traditional Catholic readers (there are many millions of them in the United States and that is an attractive market), but he does not fabricate history or theology. In order to be sucessful with traditional Catholic readers Bennet has to be very careful with the facts. The population he is aiming at is very well educated, more so than the average American. Honesty is the best policy with this potential market and Bennet is very careful to be 100% honest in his presentation of facts. Those who differ with Bennet's theology should be honest that this is their point of contention. Critics like Moi from SLC who make false statements that the Catholic Church changes its doctrines do not help their position. One would be hard pressed to name a religion that changes as often as Mormonism. If the critics do not like Bennet's book because Bennet's theology differs from their theology they should just be honest about that. They should simply state that they do not believe in the inerrancy of the Bible, they do not beleive the historical record, they do not believe the archeological record, rather they believe the living Prophet of the LDS Church and the past revelations of that Church not contradicted by their living Prophet. Once these differences are fairly aired then an intelligent debate on Bennet's book is possible.
My conclusion is that this book is a worthwile read. I would however qualify my endorsement by saying that Fr. William Taylor's book, "Tale of Two Cities: Mormonism vs. Catholicism" would be a better selection for someone turned off by polemics who wants a short introduction to the topic. Fr. Taylor has certainly had a more stable faith history than Mr. Bennet. Fr. Taylor, a native of the intermountain west, bends over backwards to be fair to Mormons, some of whom are his cousins.